US-China: the hardcore is yet to comeThe Trump administration’s response to China’s emergence has been to throw all sorts of spanners in the works, but tariffs won’t bring back manufacturing jobsByPepe Escobar

Let’s start with the “long” 16th Century – which, as with the 21st, also saw a turbulent process of marketization. At that time, the Jesuits and the Counter-Reformation were trying to rebound across Asia – but within a context where the rivalry between the Iberian superpowers of the age, Spain and Portugal, still lingered. The Reformation first attached itself to the Dutch trade thalassocracy – a seaborne empire, under which commerce was paramount – over strict propaganda of religious dogma. Britain’s maritime realm was still biding its time. The emergence of Protestantism proceeded in parallel to the emergence of neo-Confucianism in East Asia.

Fast forward to our turbulent times. Marketization – renamed as globalization – seems to be in crisis. But not in the Middle Kingdom, which is now investing in globalization 2.0 amid increasing rivalry with the other superpower, the US.

New Delhi (Sputnik): The northern Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab have been hit by heavy rains and floods. Several key roads in the Himalayan states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have reportedly been blocked due to heavy landslides and cloudbursts.

In Himachal Pradesh, at least 24 people were killed in floods and landslides. Several key roadways are blocked due to landslides. The provincial government ordered the closure of schools and colleges in several districts on Monday.

VOLCANIC GASES REACH THE STRATOSPHERE AGAIN: For the second time this year, a volcano has injected sulfurous gases into the stratosphere. NASA satellites findthat emissions from the Ulawun volcano in New Guinea reached the stratosphere on Aug. 3rd, following a similar eruption from the Raikoke volcano in the Kirul Islands on June 22nd. This latest ejection of SO2 could produce volcanic sunsets in the tropics and the southern hemisphere for months to come.